Dr2616-10-29，am9：16

On a rugged mountain road in the northern Chiyan Mountains, a team is walking on foot.

Surrounded by barren mountains, the red rocks are tall and bare, with only weeds growing in the crevices or covered with dry moss.

The team was dressed in a variety of costumes, including men and women, young and old, not like a team working in the mountains, but tourists traveling outdoors.

But there's not much to see here, just an endless stretch of red weathered rock.

At the head of the line was a tall man, wearing a camouflage vest that exposed the solid muscles of his arms. With a red cloth wrapped around his head, a battle dagger tied to his chest, and an assault rifle hanging from his large bag, he looks like a mercenary who often walks in the wilderness.

Behind the man was a blonde girl, fifteen or sixteen years old, with two strands of braid coiled behind her head and an Uzi submachine gun hanging from her chest.

She, like the man in front of her, carried a huge bag. The bag looks very heavy, leaving deep footprints wherever it walks. In comparison, it is somewhat out of place with her slender size. It's not hard to see that she's more evolved than the rest of the team.

The others, though also carrying bags, were nowhere near as big and heavy as hers.

The girl's eyes were smart, and even in this barren stone mountainous area, she still looked around, full of curiosity.

Behind the girl was a woman in her early forties, looking a little tired, with fine beads of sweat oozing from her forehead, and from time to time she took out a handkerchief to wipe it. Although his face and clothes were stained with a lot of red ash, he looked a little embarrassed, but he could still see the nobility of pampering.

Behind them were two men and two women, the older man in gown and housekeeper, and behind him were handymen, maids, and cooks.

Maybe it was a long journey, they were all a little tired, and no one in the team spoke, and they all walked silently.

As I passed by an abandoned mine, a small sound suddenly came from the dark mine.

The man in front immediately raised his palm, motioned for the person behind him to stop, and then bent his waist to check.

"Purr, purr......"

The voice grew clearer, like heavy, muddy breathing.

"Ahh The middle-aged maid in the back was overly nervous, stepped on the stone and fell, and let out a loud exclamation.

Suddenly, a low roar sounded in the mine, and the footsteps were messy, as if something was rushing out.

The man's face changed drastically, and while unloading his bag and holding the gun, he shouted backwards: "Living corpse, living corpse, ready to fight!" ”

The others hurriedly threw their bags and found a place to take cover, but the girl looked excited, and jumped directly onto the raised stones with her bags on her back to occupy the commanding heights.

"Whoa, whoa!"

In the blink of an eye, a large number of living dead people poured out of the mine. Their flesh and skin are shriveled, their eye sockets are deep, and they have torn safety helmets on their heads, and they pounce on the team with their hands outstretched.

The sallow skin is clinging to the bones, the knuckles are distinct, and the nails are black and sharp, reflecting the cold light in the sun.

"Come back quickly, it's dangerous ahead!" The lady hurriedly took the small pistol out of her handbag, hid behind the rocks, and shouted anxiously at the girl. As a mother, you can worry about your children at all times.

"Old woman, just take care of yourself!" The girl looked at the living dead who rushed out, and said without looking back, "Don't shoot yourself, or hit me." ”

The living dead roared and rushed over, saliva dripping from their mouths open to the limit, and their faces were hideous.

"Come on, big silly dog!"

The girl shouted, picking up her Uzi submachine gun and firing wildly.

The scorching bullets struck the living corpses, and the flesh flew everywhere, the helmets on their heads were shattered, and the rotten plastic pieces were scattered all over the ground.

As one of the most classic firearms, the Uzi submachine gun remained one of the mass-produced firearms after the cataclysm. Reliable design, compact body, large capacity magazine of fifty rounds, loved by female fighters.

On the other side, the male soldier held an assault rifle and continued to shoot, and the living corpses that rushed in front of him shot their heads one after another, falling straight down.

Compared to the girl's indiscriminate shooting, his shooting is much more accurate, relatively ammo-saving, and efficient.

After a round of shooting, a third of the living corpses fell.

"Click......"

After the bullet was fired, the girl quickly removed the magazine, took out a new one from the side pocket of the backpack, and continued to shoot.

In less than three minutes, the living corpse was removed. A few of them rushed out of the mine and were killed by the male warriors who came forward to check on them.

"It's a living corpse in a mine."

The male warrior judged.

During the cataclysm, many people infected with the living corpse virus but not yet became ill were herded into abandoned mines, and then blown up section by section, burying them alive inside.

It's very cruel, but it's also a helpless move.

After a long time, these living corpses dug through the soil and crawled out.

The laterite world is very large, with an equator close to 120,000 kilometers, which is 2.9 times the size of the earth, so the population in its heyday was very large.

According to historical records, the total human population before the cataclysm reached 50 billion.

After the cataclysm, the population remained only 70 million. That is, close to 50 billion humans died during the cataclysm.

According to a rough statistic made by the Human Survival Committee, excluding those killed and devoured by undercurrent organisms during the cataclysm, or killed by humans themselves after the outbreak of the living corpse virus, the number of living corpses in existence is close to 700 billion.

That's right, it's 700 billion.

Because in addition to the 35 billion living corpses produced by the red clay world itself, there are also living corpses of humans from other worlds brought over by the undercurrent of time and space.

There is such a description in the history books.

"Stiff corpses poured out of another dimension like a flood, like the Styx of hell."

"The whole city was covered and destroyed with corpses, and the subway and sewers were all stuffed with corpses."

"People have become accustomed to the smell of corpses, as if they were just part of the air."

"The crows swarmed like locusts, covering the whole sky."

"Some of the corpses came to life, grabbed the crows that didn't have time to fly away and stuffed them into their mouths, and blood and black feathers were scattered everywhere."

"If this is the punishment of the gods for humanity, it is too cruel......"

Hundreds of billions of living corpses lurk in the soil and ruins, appearing irregularly.

Due to the large number of them, they are scattered and full of uncertain factors, so as long as there are no major incidents, the local ruling organs will not send people to clean them up, wasting manpower and material resources.

This thing is just as difficult as demining after the war, and can only clear densely populated areas, and no man's land is usually ignored. If you really want to clean it completely, the manpower and material resources consumed are absolutely astronomical.

700 billion living corpses, and today's population is only more than 3 billion, you can think with your toes that it is impossible to clean up.

However, it is precisely because of these large and ubiquitous living corpses that a large number of low-level mercenaries and corpse merchants are fed. After all, mutated creatures are generally strong, but living corpses are relatively weak, hunting living corpses and selling them to corpse merchants, who then send them to factories to refine low-level evolution potions.

And these evolution potions will be sold back to the mercenaries, and the cycle will form a whole industrial chain.

And living corpses are also the main food source for mutated creatures, if there are no such creatures

Corpses, mutated creatures can only eat humans.

"Further on is the border between the Principality of Chiyan and the Principality of the Red Dragon, where there is an intermittent network signal."

The male warrior took out a simple map and said as he looked at it, "There is no signal after crossing the border, so send the email as soon as possible, and then there is a large homeless village twelve kilometers away, and we will try to get there before dark." ”

"Is it safe?" The lady asked worriedly.

"Who knows." The male warrior shrugged his shoulders.

"I must warn you, Mr. Brooke, that your answer is somewhat perfunctory." The noble lady said seriously, "Don't forget, you promised Miss Ghost Fox that you would deliver us to our destination safely. ”

This group of people was at the mercy of the ghost fox who escaped from the Ice Blue City, Lady Ursula, her daughter Margareth, and four servants.

And this male warrior named Brooke was commissioned by the ghost fox to escort them to Orchid Town as a guard and guide.

According to Ghost Fox, her former man was a second lieutenant in the Praetorian Guard of Ice Blue City, and was later killed by a so-called friend, and Ghost Fox avenged him, so he was dismissed from his post and exiled to the Black Death Continent. And Brooke is her man's cousin, because of this relationship, so he is more reliable.

"There is no such thing as absolute security in the wilderness." "If you can stand a few days without showering and don't scream at night that there are many mosquitoes, we can just find a place to camp." ”

Lady Ursula thought for a moment, glared at the free-spirited fellow, and said, "I hope you will keep your promise and don't play tricks." ”

"I said, ma'am, what tricks can I play? Your daughters are all quasi-guards, what can I do as an elite? Brooke said with a bitter face. Along the way, the other party was suspicious and was about to drive him crazy.

"That's because she's hardworking enough and has inherited her father's noble bloodline." Mrs. Ursula raised her chin with pride.

"Yes, yes, you're talking about ......," Brooke echoed, turning his head and grimacing, not much in awe.

Although Lady Ursula was the widow of the Count and had a high title, her actual status was not very high, as her husband, Count Ursula, was only an honorary nobleman.

Honorary nobles refer to nobles who do not have fiefdoms, and there is a quaint gap between them and powerful nobles. For example, although the head of the Ye Yang family, Ye Yang Masao, is only a viscount, he has actual control over several streets in Gray Corner City, and can continue to generate benefits and maintain the operation of the family.

And the Ursula family, purely relying on salaries and title subsidies, can't afford to support many people at all.

Despite their high titles, their actual status may not be as good as that of the mayor of a fringe town.

"Ignore her, she's an antique." Margareth patted Brooke on the shoulder and caught up from behind.

"Madame's worries are not entirely unreasonable, let's be careful." Brooke said.

"What a boring guy." Margareth rolled her eyes with an unhappy expression, then pulled out a square lump of sugar, tore open the wrapper and threw it into her mouth.

"Smack!"

As the pink bubbles exploded, Lady Ursula's voice rang behind her, "Margaret, how many times have I told you, bubblegum is not something a lady should touch. ”

"Oh oh~"

Margares sped up her pace while perfunctory, and she had the strength of the quasi-town guard, and she disappeared as soon as she slipped away.

"This kid is really angry with me!" Lady Ursula stamped her feet in anger, and the old butler and maid hurriedly stepped forward to comfort her.

"Miss is still in the rebellious period of youth, don't be angry, madam." "Yes, yes."

"When I see her master, I must let him take care of it. This guy, if you don't care about it, it's going to turn the world upside down. Lady Ursula said, rubbing her forehead.